


dream a little dream of me

by WendigoBaby



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Engagement, Introspection, M/M, Multi, Other, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, alec is a big gay sap, and he wants to put a ring on Magnus, that's basically it, they're having a little get together while alec is overflowing with happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 16:21:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13593861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WendigoBaby/pseuds/WendigoBaby
Summary: Maybe he’s overthinking it, as per usual.Magnus isn’t with him for grand gestures and fanfare, but for the person he is, headstrong and thoughtful, for his more sensitive side and the competitive one, for all of him. They’ve got all they need: each other, a home, people who care about them infinitely.Alec watches Izzy throw a handful of popcorn across at Maia, who retaliates by chucking a cushion at her head, bursting into a victorious cackle as it bounces off her messy updo.“Look at them, at our friends. At our family.”





	dream a little dream of me

**Author's Note:**

> yes, i am alive (barely)
> 
> exams are kicking my ass, but i took a small break to write something after a month of drought (i'm rusty, so don't judge me)
> 
> shout out to my friend charl for beta'ing this!

Alec sets the empty cheese platter on the counter, then shuffles over to the fridge with a soft sigh, the hush of it lost beneath the clusters of laughter echoing from the loft’s living room. The noise is quieter here, significantly dimmed by the kitchen walls, despite the doors left wide open. Bright light cuts out an uneven rectangle on the tiles and shadows shift across it; something almost falls, then more cheers erupt, tugging a faint smile onto Alec’s lips.

 

He and Magnus decided to throw a little, spontaneous party for their closest friends - only a handful of people, even though the decibel levels might suggest otherwise. Leaving Magnus to entertain their guests, Alec slips into the role of the host, feeling responsible for providing good food and even better alcohol.

 

Absentmindedly, he flicks on the overhead cabinet lights and picks out the cheeses, cutting them into thin pieces with a sure hand - he’s had two, maybe three glasses of wine already, but living with Magnus for as long as he has makes you build at least some sort of tolerance. The window above the sink is cracked-open and he can smell New York - the sharp cold of the autumn night, the smoke, the specific, but indescribable scent of a big city that is basically an amalgamate of everything he can think of.

 

He hums along to the song playing next room over, a boppy remix of Barbara Streisand, doesn’t even realize when his foot starts tapping to the beat. After he’s done with the cheeses, he fills up on other snacks, both healthy and less so, then reaches back into the fridge for a new bottle of red wine, the one Magnus picked up three weeks earlier while visiting a warlock that owns a winery in south Italy.

 

Even when everything is ready to carry back to the lounge in a dangerously stacked armful, Alec lingers behind in the semi-dark, leaning with his lower back against the cabinet’s edge. He can see into the living room from where he stands; his fingers tap against the dark marble edge as he observes, content to stay on the sidelines, if for a little while.

 

The couches are all rearranged to circle around the TV, a console sitting at its foot with a pair of additional speakers. On one of the seats, Izzy is covering her face with her palms, her shoulders shaking violently with poorly suppressed laughter, while Clary is whispering something into her ear, probably a joke much dirtier than anyone would expect from her. Jace is here too, but way off to the side, fiddling with his phone as he sits in one of the cushy armchairs; he doesn’t seem in a mood to party and Alec can’t force him to be, anyway. A little bit behind him and to the right stands Maia, holding up a phone to record Luke’s and Simon’s stumbling, yet passionate rendition of Beyonce’s Single Ladies iconic dance, along with a full karaoke track.

 

Alec can’t help but chuckle as he watches the two of them fumble through the quick steps, laughing and putting on a show for their small audience. Cat, barely visible from where she’s drowning in a pile of throw pillows on the floor, claps with her hands above their head, loudly cheering for Luke, as she half-drunkenly teases him about doing a striptease for all of them later.

 

That’s not everyone though - Alec’s mom is here, too, tucked into a corner of the couch with her feet underneath her, work heels cast away to the floor. Chin propped up on her palm, she smiles at Luke’s back, valiantly trying not to break out into a grin.

 

Amongst all the chaos is Magnus, beautiful and kingly, sprawled over the cobalt blue seat with a glass hanging loosely from his bejeweled fingers. He throws his head back and laughs; it takes over his entire body, his free hand clasping at his shirt as he squeezes his eyes shut, barely able to catch a single breath.

 

His laugh is a melodic, pearly sound that reaches Alec and rings through his entire being, sending warmth cascading from his heart outwards, over his skin and through his bones, soothing like a cold breeze on a summer’s day.

 

Alec feels at peace right then and there, truly and deeply. It’s almost overwhelming, it chokes up his throat and squeezes around his heart, forces him to swallow down another deep sigh - neither weary or tired, but instead full of gratefulness, of comfort, of safety. Inherently, he knows this is where he’s supposed to be, surrounded by people from different worlds that came together in a harmony nobody would have expected. It took fighting tooth and nail, long talks and apologies, but they’ve made it.

 

Together, they survived threats ten times bigger than those they could handle alone, working arm in arm, hand in hand, _heart in heart_ ; they all had something to learn from each other, a lesson that made it all work in the end. They’re still all learning, rough edges being slowly sanded off with each passing grain of time, old grudges buried deep beneath the ground in forgiveness.

 

If someone told Alec a couple years back, that he would be deeply in love with the High Warlock of Brooklyn, and that his best friends, aside from his sister, would be a werewolf cop and a mundane-turned-vampire-turned-daylighter, he would have never believed it. He also would have not even considered being on good enough terms with his own mother to invite her over for drinks and stupid Kinect games, on top of her dating the aforementioned werewolf best friend.

 

Oh, how times change.

 

Alec reaches into the pocket of his pants, the pad of his thumb dragging over the soft velvet of a jewelry box, as his eyes settle on Magnus, long legs swung over the spot Alec was previously sitting in, his eyes crinkled and face split in half with a wild grin.

 

_I want to marry you so badly_ , Alec thinks, as his heart leaps tenderly.

 

It’s become sort of a habit, an impulse he has no control over. When Magnus is working, with his reading glasses low on his nose and his face tense in concentration, when he’s napping with his head in Alec’s lap, when they’re walking down the streets of New York with cold hands and hot coffee cups, it always happens. Alec looks over at Magnus, studies the lines of his face and the way that one strand of hair never wants to stay in place, thinks _‘I am so lucky to have you’_ , whispers a tender _‘I love you’_ , sometimes says nothing, just smiles, thinking of the ring, all shining gold in the shade of Magnus’ cat eyes.

 

Alec hopes, wishes, _dreams_ that Magnus will say yes.

 

His life is nearly perfect, almost impossibly so - his family is safe and not at each other’s throats, there’s no big trouble at the horizon, he gets to run the Institute, as he was always meant to. He’s successful, respected, allowed to be himself despite unkind eyes and sour words murmured beneath a breath. He’s loved and he’s in love, in a happy, fulfilling relationship with the most brilliant and extraordinary man Alec has ever had the chance to meet.

 

Feeling eyes on him, Magnus glances up from where he’s bickering with Catarina, catches Alec’s gaze. There’s a question in the following raise of his eyebrows, _‘are you okay?’_ telegraphed clear and simple, a line of worry already settling between Magnus’ eyebrows.

 

Alec shakes his head loosely because there’s nothing to fret over, but Magnus doesn’t seem to be convinced. With another glance at Alec, he excuses himself from their company and gracefully rises from his seat, almost unnoticed.

 

Unmoving, Alec watches Magnus drift closer, until he comes to rest with his shoulder against the kitchen’s door jamb. Shatters of light twinkle in the little crystals embedded in his tunic, grouped into constellations across the dark purple silk.

 

“Why are you hiding in here?” Magnus asks, voice edging on curious, yet amused, as he crosses his arms loosely over the broad expanse of his chest.

 

Alec huffs out a chuckle.

 

“I’m not hiding, Magnus,” he pauses, vaguely gestures towards the living room, “Just thinking, I guess.”

 

“Then, I’m going to not-hide with you for a bit, if that’s okay,” Magnus muses, a coy smirk set across his lips and Alec wants to kiss him.

 

Still, he waits patiently as Magnus comes closer, sidles up against Alec’s side until they’re pressed together, Magnus’ arms around his waist and one palm rubbing soothingly up and down the side of his stomach in slow sweeps.

 

“What are you thinking about?” Magnus asks, leaning more into Alec’s touch as he loops an arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders, fingers dipping into the triangle of exposed skin between the tunic’s lapels.

 

“About you. About how everything came to be.”

 

Alec kisses Magnus’ neck first, then behind his ear, then his temple, eyes dipping closed as he breathes. The ring feels heavy in Alec’s pocket as he rests his head against Magnus’; he has been planning this proposal for so long, running through different scenarios ranging from a simple dinner to an entire day’s worth of activities only to end up back on the loft balcony, where they had all of their most tender moments.

 

Maybe he’s overthinking it, as per usual.

 

Magnus isn’t with him for grand gestures and fanfare, but for the person he is, headstrong and thoughtful, for his more sensitive side and the competitive one, for all of him. They’ve got all they need: each other, a home, people who care about them infinitely.

 

Alec watches Izzy throw a handful of popcorn across at Maia, who retaliates by chucking a cushion at her head, bursting into a victorious cackle as it bounces off her messy updo.

 

“Look at them, at our friends. At our family.”

 

Magnus’ hand stills and Alec immediately misses the sensation.

 

“We have indeed come a long way, my dear Alexander.”

 

“That we have.” Alec shifts impossibly closer to Magnus, cupping his jaw with his free hand, his thumb running over the ridge of Magnus’ cheekbone. He remembers the soft velvet in his pocket, the engraved ring; he could go down on his knee right now.

 

There’s that thought again, _I want you to be mine forever_ , as he swims in the warmth of those brown eyes that stare up at him with adoration.

 

Magnus covers Alec’s palm with his own, before leaning in to catch Alec’s lips in a gentle kiss, meaningful in its chaste simplicity. When Magnus moves back, Alec chases after his mouth, the motion reminiscent of a certain wedding.

 

One kiss turns into two, three, five, but then they part to catch their breaths, foreheads pressed together, because putting space between their bodies feels like being punished for a crime not yet committed.

 

“Come on, let’s go back. I still want to get you to swingdance with me,” Magnus hums against Alec’s lips and he almost agrees without even listening, but then the sentence clicks in his head, eliciting a chuckle that rumbles deep in his chest.

 

“I’ll trip and fall over like a fool even if I even attempt to keep up with you,” Alec replies, but Magnus is already tugging him back into the living room by his hands, those eyes shining bright with mirth.

 

“I’ll catch you if you fall, darling.”

 

Funnily enough, Alec already has fallen for Magnus a long, long time ago. And so he goes along, as if there ever was a different option.

 

While Magnus picks the song, his thumb skillfully flicking across the stick on the controller, Alec doubles back to the kitchen for the forgotten snacks when he sees Clary’s hair, as it strongly reminds him of Flaming Hot Cheetos; he relays that information to her and earns himself a half-assed punch to the shoulder that makes them all giggle.

 

First up is the swing dance and it goes smoother than expected, since Alec has no time to think about his feet and now funny he must look. Instead, he lets himself be guided by Magnus’ sure hands, casting a glance at the screen only here and there between all the wild turns and quick sequences.

 

Everyone claps and Magnus does a theatrical bow, before he sags into the armchair, crossing one leg over the other. With much less grace, Alec squeezes himself into the sliver of free space on the one-person seat, his wine glass in his hand. Magnus pulls him closer, one of his palms a steady point of heat over Alec’s thigh and steals the wine, taking a sip for himself.

 

Neither of them says a word, but they share a look and it’s enough, because Magnus knows how much this moment means to Alec.

 

The night goes on - everyone takes turns to yell empty threats and boast about their close to non-existent dancing skills; they switch pairs and sabotage each other as more wine and whiskey disappear from the loft’s fridge. Alec dances with his sister and his mom, at some point ends up doing an entire routine with Luke and Simon to a Backstreet Boys song that sends Magnus into fits of uncontrollable giggles (it’s totally worth the embarrassing pictures Izzy teases him with after).

 

Later, when the stars make place for the sun and it’s so late that it’s already early, they vote for sleep - Magnus conjures up enough pillows and blankets for an entire army, making sure everyone is comfortable as they drift off into a fitful slumber. All that are left awake are Alec, Magnus, and Simon; the latter helps them carry all the glasses and plates back to the kitchen, before lying down next to Maia, who pulls him flush against her with a pleased noise.

 

From the doorway, Alec watches them all sleep soundly, his heart growing tenfold with each of his breaths.

 

This is it, too good to be true.

 

Alec walks out onto the balcony, hands loose behind his back as he breathes slowly, head tipped skyward; he can almost taste the stars in his happiness.

 

After a moment, there’s a warm palm splayed over the small of his back, a mouth pressed against his shoulder.

 

With the music of the New York City to accompany Alec, he takes Magnus’ hands and kneels before him, one question on his lips.

 

His dream comes true: Magnus says yes.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed reading this little piece of fluff <3  
> all comments and kudos are greatly appreciated from the bottom of my big gay heart~
> 
> come find me on [tumblr](https://maghnvsbane.tumblr.com/)


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